Roxana Pérez-Méndez is a multi-media performance artist who works closely on the fragility of contemporary identity. Her recent piece, Caridad (April, 2009) is on display this week during No Soul For Sale at the Philadelphia-based nonprofit artist collective and gallery Vox Populi's space on the fourth floor. Caridad is a intricate installation that combines DVD video, a pepper-ghost hologram, and model dingy boat and mechanical fan. - Carolyn Kane
Can you tell me about this work and this strange screen?
A pepper-ghost hologram is a two-way glass mirror that was originally developed in 1860s and used for creating illusions, known as “ghosts,” in theatrical performances. It was also used up by Disney in their production of the Haunted Mansion. The peppers ghost screen acts as both a mirror and reflecting medium, simultaneously producing reality and illusion.
The first aspect of the installation is my performance, a continuous shot of me rowing. This performance was shot on green screen with the background removed in post-production. The image is then played on a DVD and monitor that is reflected onto the pepper screen, at a 45-degree angle. Next, on the other side of the screen there is a model dingy boat, mechanical fan, and blue strips of paper that fly like moving water. This scene is also reflected in the two-way mirror, but from the reverse side. In short, both sides are caught in the center of the same image, sandwiched there, giving the illusion, and producing the reality, of being one.
This triangular structure is also echoed thematically. From a frontal point of view, the pepper screen appears to convey only one image: a moving image of a girl rowing inside of a dingy boat. However, if the viewer walks to the side of the piece, the illusion quickly falls a part, revealing the ephemerality of both illusion and reality. The installation is inspired by Lacanian theory and also the immigrant experience of moving from Puerto Rico to the United States, producing a sense of being in between. The DVD image is played on a continuous loop, I row endlessly, reiterating a sense of being caught in between two realms, like the American Dream for instance, where in reality, one is always rowing to catch up with an illusion. For Lacan, it is also the cyclical pattern of desire.